Chapter Eight #2
“So …” I found a quick change of subject that made me feel less like a tramp.
“Thaddeus is quite wealthy. He has tons of patents on things beyond robotic technology. He pays me well, but I received a hefty settlement from my accident, too. I’ve also been photographed for various fitness and technology magazines.
Thad lines all that stuff up for me. It’s good publicity for him as well, and the money that comes from the photo releases is pretty good. ”
“Sounds like you’ve got everything going for you.”
Not everything.
He pulled into my airline’s terminal drop-off and got my luggage out of the back.
“So how long will you be in Beijing?”
“A week to ten days. It depends on how much tweaking they do.” I shrugged. “So if you find yourself in the Beijing area give me a call. We can grab dinner or something.”
Cage grinned. “Sure, I’ll check my schedule. Somehow I think my six-day-a-week workouts, pre-season training, and fishing will prevent me from being in your neighborhood.”
“Fishing? You fish?”
“Ten thousand lakes, of course I fish.”
I nodded, imagining Cage on a fishing boat, listening to country music. It surprised me how much I liked that visual. “I’d better go. Who knows how long it will take me to get through security with my metal parts. Thank you for the ride.”
“My pleasure.” He didn’t move.
I didn’t move.
What were we waiting for? A kiss? I hoped so. He stepped closer to me. I held my breath. The ground shook. The clouds parted. Angels played their trumpets. Okay, that may have been a slight exaggeration, but inside that’s how I felt until the world’s biggest dickhead honked his horn at us.
“This isn’t a parking lane,” he yelled out his window.
Cage stepped back.
No, don’t step back!
“We’ll text.”
I smiled, but it felt more like a grimace. “Bye.” Turning, I made sure to give dickhead an evil glare before making my way to the entrance.
First-class. Thaddeus took care of me, but even with some extra room and extra attention, the flight would be brutal. No one sat next to me on the flight to Seattle; I could only hope to have as much luck on the plane from Seattle to Beijing.
With my two-hour layover in Seattle, I grabbed a sandwich, SmartWater, and a bag of BBQ potato chips, then claimed my seat by the gate, propping my legs up on my carry-on suitcase. After licking off the BBQ flavoring, I took my phone off airplane mode and a text dinged right away.
Cage: I should have just kissed you. Stupid me.
“Why, why, why!” I closed my eyes as my chin dipped to my chest.
When I opened them, several people around me gave me that are-you-okay-or-just-crazy look.
“Sorry,” I whispered then shoved my sandwich into my mouth, ripping off a very unladylike-sized bite.
Lake: I haven’t left the states. How soon can you get to Seattle?
Lake: Do you remember our first kiss?
Lake: You turned your head. I wasn’t going to kiss you on the lips.
Lake: Thank you for turning your head. Best. Kiss. Ever.
Lake: Are you still there?
Cage: Just being polite and listening to you.
Lake: Sorry. I talk a lot.
Cage: I noticed, especially to yourself.
Lake: I don’t talk to myself.
Cage: You do. The day we met? You used the bathroom at my dad’s house, and I heard you talking to yourself.
He heard me. I couldn’t believe he heard me. So. Embarrassing.
After shutting the bathroom door, I rested my hands on the edge of the sink, looking in the mirror at the flushed face of a girl who hadn’t given a second glance to a guy since her accident.
“He’s gorgeous, Lake. Stop thinking stupid shit about a gorgeous guy that lives a million miles away, and oh yeah …
he’s naturally going to be attracted to gorgeous women with all their limbs intact. ”
I may have had some self-esteem issues right after my accident.
Lake: I don’t talk to myself. Sometimes I just think out loud. Why were you eavesdropping on my thoughts?
Cage: Lol, because you think so loud.
Lake: I’m ashamed.
Cage: Why?
Lake: Because you were grieving your dad that day. I ached for you, but it didn’t stop me from pining for you too. I was lonely and insecure.
Cage: And now?
He asked some really good questions. I took a few minutes to enjoy the rest of my lunch while I thought about it. Cage didn’t text me again. He waited for me. I loved his patience.
Lake: Now I’m alone, but I’m no longer lonely—Netflix, Trzy, etc., and I’m not insecure about my body.
Half-truths. A cat and Netflix were a stretch for defining companionship. It had been so long since I’d been intimate with anyone, that I couldn’t honestly say how insecure I would feel lying on a bed naked in front of a sexy man like Cage. Clearly, my thoughts were jumping ahead to … maybe never.
Cage: When did you get Trzy? She’s quite the cat.
I grinned.
Lake: She was a gift.
Cage: Was she in one piece when you got her?
Lake: Lol! No. They say the truth is more unbelievable than fiction, well, here it is …
she was a gift from a date I met on an online dating website.
I knew right away my leg made him nervous and there wouldn’t be a second date, but I think he mistook my kindness for attraction.
The next day he had a friend of his deliver me a package with a note that said, “Sorry we didn’t work out, hope she keeps you company until you find the right guy.
Her name is Trzy, which means three in Polish.
I’m half-Polish and you are missing a leg so I thought it was a fitting reminder of our date.
The rescue shelter said she lost her leg and part of her ear when she got tangled up in a group of bikers.
I hope you two bond and you think of me often. ”
Cage: LMFAO. You have to be joking.
Lake: Sadly … no. I’ve had her in the car and halfway to the shelter to return her, at least a dozen times. But I can’t do it. It pisses me off that she’s so attached to me.
Cage: Are you sure it’s not that you’re so attached to her?
I shook my head.
Lake: I can board my plane. TTYL.
Cage: Safe travels. And, Lake … I remember the kiss. I remember it well.
I floated onto the plane. My head was huge and way up in the clouds.
It was a miracle that I even fit onto the aircraft.
After tossing my purse onto my seat, I unzipped the front pocket of my carry-on to get my headphones.
As I pulled them out, something fell to the ground.
An older gentleman, waiting for me to move out of the aisle, bent down and picked it up.
“You dropped this.”
“Thank you.” I looked at it without recognition and stepped back out of his way. It was a blank white notecard, then I flipped it over.
CHAPTER TWO
I shook my head. Flint? Everson? It didn’t make sense.
Cage was the only one near my carry-on, but he didn’t have anything to do with the first notecard.
It had to be him, yet it couldn’t be him.
It was very weird and mysterious. I settled into my seat and for the next twelve hours, and I thought non-stop about the notecards and the missed kiss while listening to some country music I had downloaded at the airport.